November 2009 Archives

Even though there are no indications that Notre Dame is wavering on its
decision to keep charting an independent path rather than join the Big
Ten, it still makes a lot of sense.And just in case that changes,
the possibilities of a two-division Big Ten are intriguing. There's no
obvious can't-miss alignment scenario. But here are a couple that could
work.

No
matter how it's done, preserving traditional rivalries would be
important. I don't see Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State ever
being separated. Similarly, Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin probably
shouldn't be separated. Indiana-Purdue, and Illinois-Northwestern, also
are rivalries that should be preserved. And remember, it's not like the
divisions would be all that separate. Teams would play the schools in
the other division half the time.The North-South plan would have
the advantage of letting Penn State and Notre Dame, who met regularly
before Penn State joined the Big Ten, anchor the South. It also would
make the North a very rugged division, considering that Iowa and
Wisconsin have established themselves as strong alternatives to
traditional powers Ohio State and Michigan.My East-West plan would
allow the Irish to maintain their annual rivalries with Michigan,
Michigan State and Purdue. It also would keep the three Indiana schools
together. (And if Dallas can be in the NFC East, Penn State can be in
the Big Ten West.) Nor would I be a fan of non-directional names, such
as the ACC's Atlantic and Coastal divisions.Other possibiliites
would be the Grange and Nagurski divisions. Or the (Wayne) Duke and
(Jim) Delany divisions. Now you see the appeal of the good old
North-South.I tend to favor my North-South plan, because I think
ND-Michigan-Ohio State in one division (the East) would be too many
traditional powers in one place. On the other hand, with the
North-South arrangment, the Ohio State/Michigan-driven North still
would be awfully rugged, considering what Iowa and Wisconsin have been
doing.The only way to achieve better balance, though, would be to
break up more rivalries. And that doesn't make sense to me,
particularly because predicting which programs are going to advance and
decline down the road is not easy to do.